According to reports from The News & Observer, two ongoing events will eventually affect many students at NC State. One is the Hillsborough Street area plan and another is the parking fee charged by parking decks on nights and weekends. I urge NC State students and nearby residents to take part in hearings and public meetings in regard with these two events.
The city of Raleigh will host two public meetings next week for residents to view a draft of the small area and offer feedback. One of the public meetings will take place in the Mountains Ballroom at Talley Student Union.
Residents near Hillsborough Street have witnessed rapid developments in the past few years. In August, the Stanhope Center student housing complex opened on Hillsborough Street near Dixie Trail. Like many other housing complexes in cities, the first floor of the Stanhope Center has been constructed as shops and restaurants, while the above floors are used as student housing. This month, the Aloft Raleigh Hotel and restaurant opened near the intersection with Pullen Road. These projects were aimed at serving the large population of NC State students, but they worry some long-term residents.
The multifunctional housing complexes certainly will give students more options for housing, if prices are reasonable. The short distance of these buildings to NC State’s campus makes it possible to commute without cars. This could ease the pressure of the already limited campus parking spaces, leaving more room for students who choose to live far from campus. In addition, the rising numbers of shops and restaurants will provide tremendous convenience for students. For example, there is no grocery store in walking distance to the campus. The nearest grocery store is Harris Teeter in Cameron Village, which takes 15 to 20 minutes walking from campus. With intense schedules, most students may want to shop and grab something to eat with walking time no more than 15 minutes.
In the long-term, however, these projects and new buildings might increase the congestion on Hillsborough Street, given that the street’s lanes were not widened itself despite the increasing traffic flow. While business complexes rise from the ground, it is expected to attract more customers and residents to the area. But facilities such as parking have not kept an equal pace with those projects. The street is still narrow, and it is becoming even narrower by setting aside street parking slots. Congestion usually happens during non-rush hours, even worse in rush hours, largely because of the narrow lane, pedestrians crossing the street and cars looking for parking. Hotels and restaurants along the street without private parking lots could deter customers and cost them time to find parking spaces.
Another event, concerning charging parking fees in decks in downtown Raleigh, has drawn significant opposition from business owners downtown. The Raleigh City Council voted this summer to charge a flat $5 parking fee to night and weekend parking. The city council now reconsiders the plan and will host public hearing regarding how much fee should be charge. City officials argued that parking fees should apply to decks in town in compensation of costs of cleaning and maintenance due to damage caused by people having nightlife.
Indeed, charging a parking fee is an efficient way to make use of the parking facilities, as the same time raising some revenue to the local government. But since the parking decks are not run by the market, how much to charge cannot be estimated by forces of supply and demand. It must be open to the public and receive feedback from different groups of people: downtown business owners, regular customers, churchgoers and cleaning staffs. Charging a flat price of $5 for all might not be as efficient as it gets. If the city officials are mainly concerned with nightlife people, they should charge a relatively higher price for hours to them. They also need to consider churchgoers on Sunday, given that downtown area has many churches. They should not share the same burden of parking as those who participate in nightlife.
NC State students should become more active in these public issues related to our communities and neighborhoods. They might be trivial but would affect all of the residents living in the area. If there is a democratic process that is open to the public to have access, students better take advantage of it and make their voices heard.
